The Internal Conflict(Part II)
by ComradeDoggo
Summary: Disclaimer, I don't owe any bit of those two games. This idea first came to me when a few of my comrades are pretty lagging behind their studies at school so I decided to help them. So I tried to produce a revision guide that is both educating and enjoyable to read. Since I was playing these 2 games at the same time, I tried to make a cross-over and here is part II of the story.


Caution: Even though this fiction was originally written for scientific/academic purposes, some contents were not scientifically /historically accurate because of entertainment needs. The Author of this text **is not someone who is good at science or English** , the whole purpose is mainly for personal enjoyment. If you haven't read the previous part ( **Search: The Internal Conflict(Part I))** , it is recommended to read the previous part before reading this one. Also I haven't finished with this one yet, so do expect future updates and... Please just smile!

25 June 1955,California

Elizabeth Holloway wondered around the countryside alone, her heart was filled with pain and misery, her eyes were red, she was paler than usual. The sun was slowly but surely rising from the landscape, bring light to the land of darkness.

She could never find her old self again, the truth was a pain both mentally and physically.

Elizabeth stood on top of a small hill and watched the sunrise. For a moment, she felt life is meaningless and painful, but she quickly changed her mind. Mason, Jason were just who they were, they will make their own choices in life, but they don't want their actions to effect her life, that is the reason why she never knew the truth before this day. The amount of light shinning on her increased slowly, providing her with more and more energy ( **in the form of rising temperature** ), causing her mind changed to other thoughts. She thought about her new friends in Russia: what happened after they let her go? Were they caught for treason? Are they still alive?

With those in mind, Elizabeth carried on her journey.

A man washed the sandy dust off his face from a large bucket of water, he was about in his middle age, he wore an old farmer's jacket which the original blue colour had decayed away into blueish white, and was covered with stitches. After washing his face, the man wiped his face clean by a dirty rug beside the plastic bucket. He was tough looking and his facial features were clearly defined, unlike his partner, "Come on Lennie! We hada go home and help out o'Candy.". A bear sized man stumbled towards him, with his giant arms hanging loosely.

"George, I wanna catch more rabbits!" he made a childish cry.

"You damn thing," smiled the smaller man, "ya hada a whole morning to catch 'em. I tol' ya we are gonna be going back now."

The big guy made a strange sob and followed behind George like a dog following his master.

The two came to a little wooden house, with an iron chimney on top. George knocked on the yellowish wooden door. Soon, they were welcomed in by an African American with a crooked back, "How's ya day boys?" he laughed, "Got any rabbits Lennie?"

"I saw tons of 'em, but they ran when I try to catch 'em." Lennie sobbed and wiped his enormous face on his sleeve.

"How's ol'Candy?" asked George.

"Ah," replied Crooks, "His gettin' better, he hada 5 pills of **penicillin** after ya guys left."

George rested his hay hat on a hook, and walked into a room. An old man was lying on the coach with his face facing the window, trying to gain more energy from the sun.

"How's your body ol' guy?"

Candy smiled at the appearance of George, "Much better."

George sat down beside him and took out a thermometer, and handed it to Candy, " We r gonna take ya to town today, and get ya checked with a doc."

"Thank ya very much." Candy sat up from the coach while measuring his temperature, "I'll never regret living with ya guys."

George answered with a grin.

"George, someone's at our gate." called Crooks from the dining room.

George poked his head near the window, a young woman, welly dressed was standing behind the rusty gate, George muttered to himself, "I'm not expecting any visitors today."

Elizabeth glanced nervously at the little house in front of her, but this was her only option.

Soon, the door opened and someone stepped out.

"Hello," she nervously said to the older man, "em…I'm lost…do you know what's the easiest way to town?"

George studied the lady, she reminded him of someone from before, but he couldn't recall her name, "Well, ya are in my piece of land apparently, the closest town is right down this path to the north, but it's gonna take ya a full day to get there."

Elizabeth panicked, "Oh…how do I get there apart from walking."

George laughed, "lady, whatever ya name is, I'm still curious why ya're wandering around the countryside alone."

Elizabeth shrugged a little, "I'm just taking a little walk…"

"Right. If ya don't mind, I'm going down to da town later with a friend, I can let you hop along, if you want of course."

"That's very nice of you sir," smiled Elizabeth, "Yeah, please just drop me anywhere in the town."

George unlocked the gate from inside, "Don't mind to take a seat in my house, we're leaving in just a second." He gestured Elizabeth to follow him to the house.

As they enter, Elizabeth looked around the room, it was old and produced a strange smell but it felt cosy enough for living. The walls were welly hand-painted yellow, the wooden floor reflect light due to its polished surface.

George took an empty mug and started to fill it with water, "My home's quite ol', as ol' as thy land in fact but its comfort enough for us guys. I tel' ya, we bought this land ourselves years ago, we keep our own harvest, we farm chickens, kettles and pigs. If ya have a chance to live on a farm like ours, ya gonna love it." He handed the mug to Elizabeth.

Suddenly a giant figure appeared behind George, "I wanna go out and find 'em rabbits."

George annoyingly looked around to discover Lennie was standing behind him. Lennie's vision then focused onto the new comer in the house, his jaws dropped as usual whenever he focus on an object.

"Uh…Hello…I am just trying to get a ride from your friend." Elizabeth tensed up by the uncomfortable stare upon her.

"Lennie, come with me for a second," George dragged Lennie behind him into a room.

"I wanna no trouble," Lennie cried as he was pulled away.

George closed the door behind him quietly, "Okay, let me make this statement again, I know that girl's good looking, but I'm never gonna let what ya done in Weeds to happen again."

Lennie started to sob, "George, I mean no harm. I just wanna look at her, she is purty."

"Fine, whatever you do, DO NOT TOUCH ANY BIT OF HER! Or ya wanna spend the rest of ya day in jail." George stared fiercely into the eyes of his old companion, who shivered with fear.

"This is getting interesting," thought Elizabeth as George appeared once again.

"Sorry, that's justa my cousin…uh…his a nice fella buta…he was kicked in the head by a horse when he was younger," he explained, "but I promise that his never mean any harm, he justa can't control his actions sometimes."

"That's perfectly alright," smiled Elizabeth, she could tell a bad guy from a mile away, but this did not include Subject Zeta and his daughter.

An elderly man stumbled out of another room, he held a walking stick in his hand, "Hello there young lady, I'm Candy."

"I'm Elizabeth, nice to meet you."

" I heard George say you wanna go to town later," Candy sat down on an apple box, "well, his also taking me there as well. I'm an ol' man, hada see the doc."

"Oh…are you his uncle or something?" asked Elizabeth.

Candy smiled proudly, "In fact, no. I met him and Lennie at a ranch, I did them a little help when they wanted to buy this little' farm, so we all moved here. That was the best decision in my life, George is such a nice fella, he cared for me and Crooks like no others."

"I can see that he is nice person," replied Elizabeth. They sat there motionlessly for a while until Candy broke the silence once more, "So tell me, Elizabeth, why are you wondering around in the countryside alone?"

Elizabeth blushed a little, the story was too long to tell so she decided to shorten it, "uhh…I'm working near by…and I was just taking a little walk around and I got lost and I arrived at your farm."

"Oooo" Candy sat up, "Ya must be in the military or government."

"How…" started Elizabeth but she quickly changed it to, "Why do think that, Mr Candy?"

"Ah" laughed Candy, "Ya don't look like any of those girls from the town, ya look much smarter than them. I know that Area 34 is just near by, everyone around here knows Area 34. You guys are always testing those unbelievable science there, I remembered last year, you guys launched one of those rockets that split into thousands of tiny little ones after launching."

"Oh, you know so much about us." Elizabeth sucked a mouthful of air, "To be honest, what you saw was the VX-1000, that's an air-to-air missile which is able to cover a great area sky after launch."

"Do you know the genius who came up with that plan," Candy asked interestingly.

"Well…even though this is classified, but I'm gonna need your help to get to town later, so I'll just tell you. In fact, she is sitting right here in your little room." said Elizabeth.

Candy gave a surprise whistle, "Never expect a young lady like ya to be the creator of those technology. In fact, I think I know someone else who works there as well."

George came to them with a hot water kettle, "You mean Slim? Yeah, I heard he went to work in Area 34 after we left the ranch, he sometimes send me letters, but he never give a clue of his job."

The sound of engine interrupted the three. An armoured jeep parked outside the gate. Elizabeth relieved as Jason stepped out of the driver's spot. Another unfamiliar man followed him.

"George!" shouted the man.

George hurried out and let the man in.

"Have you seen a young lady, about twenty, welly dressed, wandering around near your place?" the skinny man dressed in dark leather asked, he handed a cigar to George.

"Ah, you mean her?"

"Dr Elizabeth, let me introduce Slim to you" Jason walked up to Elizabeth, "He is the head of security in Area 34, and this George, his friend. We searched for you for like five hours, I guess?" he turned to Slim.

"Yeah, I know your little place is quite attractive to young ladies," Slim patted George in the back, who laughed at his joke.

"Dr Elizabeth, do you want to get on the car first?" asked Jason.

"Sure" Elizabeth turned to George, "That's very nice of you for letting me rest in your house, thank you very much."

"No thanks." George dumped the cigar butt on the ground, "You can come and visit anytime, I can provide you with some food and water."

Elizabeth and Jason both walked back to the jeep, leaving Slim and George behind.

"Long time no see," said George.

"Yeah, how's ya little land?" asked Slim.

"Pretty well," George said proudly, "we are actually doing quite good in our harvests. Anyways, How's ya days in that Area 34?"

"Well," replied Slim as he light another cigar, "quite interesting I have to say. I learnt quite a lot from there, that place is packed with all sorts of guys, soldiers, scientists, engineers, government officials, CIA agent, ya know what George, that guy with Dr Elizabeth is one of those agents."

"Ya are making quite some buddies there?" laughed George, "By the way, who is that Dr Elizabeth, she don't seem to be any usual doctor I expect."

Slim checked that the others were out of ear-shot, and turned back to George, "She is one of our nation's top rocket scientist, she was captured by the Soviets recently, and we sent more than ten thousand men to rescue her from Russia."

George laughed hysterically, "Ya got to be kidding me."

"You can choose to believe it or not, but I hada go, fella, and I've got something for Lennie as well." Slim searched through his deep pockets, and pulled out what seemed to be a fur blanket, "got that from one of our spy in Russia."

"Thanks, he'll fall in love with it," George ran his fingers through the soft fur, "See'ya, remember to come and visit me if ya have time."

"Sure," Slim replied and strolled back to the jeep, "See'ya George."

26 June 1955,Soviet base number 238

Subject Subtonic slowly forced open his mutated eye lids behind his visor. "Velcome to the vorlt, Zubject Zubtonic," a heavily German accented voice called out from the speakers in his helmet.

"Grrrrrgggghhh" Subject Subtonic groaned, he's head was still aching.

"I am your creator," said the voice, "Dr Steiner Von Braun. You are built to serve the motherland, the communist family."

The metal door of the operation room opened, a slender figure walked in. Like him, she was dressed in armour from head to toe, her circular visor produced a calming yellowish light. However, unlike his armour, the figure's armour consists stretchy polymer instead of metal, which carved out the curves of the person wearing it.

"Thiz iz Zubject Omega," introduced Dr Steiner, "You'll be working wiz her in the future."

Subject Omega went over and detached the pipes connected Subject Subtonic's body and helped him to seat up.

"Hello," a sweet, young voice spoke over the radio, "I am Subject Omega. Follow me, I'll take you to the room. You can communicate with me through your mind if you have any problems, since we are bonded together mentally."

"Thank you very much," Subject Subtonic replied, "I need lots of help from you, Subject Omega."

Omega hopped playfully in front him as he slowly stomped behind her, over the radio, Subtonic could hear Dr Steiner slapping his forehead, "Zubject Omega, can you juzt be a little more mature…"

The two metallic super soldiers traveled along the dark corridors of the underground research centre, but one was bouncing ahead and the other one moved mechanically behind.

"Wait for me Omega," called Subtonic, "I'm not as fast and light as you."

Subject Omega cartwheeled beside him, "Daddy, come on!" she pulled him by the arm.

"Wait," Subtonic realised something was not right, "what did you just call me again?"

"Nothing…"

"Really?"

"Yea…"

"Fine, I'll find out someday." Subtonic, made a long whale groan.

They soon arrived to a gigantic metallic front door, "We are here, fa…Subject Subtonic." Subtonic watched Omega suspiciously as she entered the password on a key pad. With a slow sound of metal chains rubbing together, the door lifted upwards, presenting the room to the two. There was bunk on one side that was decorated with crayons and childish drawings of robots and teddy bears and the wall beside it was filled with math equations written on it. On the other side was a plain metallic platform that had fuelling rods and syringes.

Subject Subtonic stared his partner's space and made questioning groan.

Omega's visor showed an embarrassed pink colour, "Eh…it's quite lonely for me to live myself…I drew those when I was younger."

"How'z your room?" a voice spoke from behind. They turned around to find the German scientist standing outside the door.

Subtonic made a respectful groan at the sight of his creator.

"Zubject Zubtonic, I haven't introduced Subject Omega properly to you yet. She waz your daughter before you ran into an aczident that cauzed you to arrive to your present ztate."

Subtonic turned his glance down at Omega who looked up at him playfully.

"I'll leave for a meeting with my fellow comrades now, be in my office by 9:30pm." Dr Steiner pressed a button that shut the door in front of him.

"You…you are my daughter…?" muttered Subtonic in his mind.

"Yea…you lost all your memories during the operation." Omega hopped onto her bed and held a weird looking teddy bear in front of her.

Subtonic could feel his soul breaking down, no one wants to lose their past, "What…what happened to me…my past?"

Subject Omega put a finger in front of her visor, signature him to be quite for a second, then she creeped near the door and peeked outside through a small porthole. Then she held her round helmet in her gloved hands and took it off in one swift move. Subtonic was shocked by how young and pretty his daughter was, he never expected anything beautiful under any forms of amour.

"Father, my name is Eleanor." Eleanor moved closer to him, "you were called Subject Zeta, you saved me in a Gulag when I was young. Dr Steiner tried to wipe your previous memories away, but I…we…managed to save them before the operation."

From underneath her suit, she pulled out a large syringe filled with red liquid.

Subtonic groaned, "then can you give them back to me, please?"

"Sure father ." Eleanor walked up to him and carefully plugged the tip into his helmet.

"Subject Zeta," spoke a familiar Russian accented voice, "we are finally back in control."

"What happened?" asked Subject Zeta, he felt he had gone through a very long sleep.

"Your daughter saved us from Steiner." Reznov pulled his comrade up, mentally.

"Daddy!" Eleanor jumped onto him and hugged around his metallic form, "I missed you so much in your shinny armour."

Zeta rubbed his daughter's back gently, "Daddy missed Eleanor, too."

Eleanor broke the hug and glanced at her father, "Father, even though it is my responsibility to save you, but I still want to ask for something in return."

"What do you want dear, daddy's gonna get anything for you."

Eleanor made a naughty smirk and sat down on her bed, "Who is Reznov?"

Zeta made a long groan, he didn't have a clue how to answer this question.

"Reznov," he asked his imaginary friend, "we have a problem here."

"Ah," laughed Reznov, "Let me speak to her."

Eleanor could not believe her mind as the sound of a Russian accented voice appeared in her brain, the speaker seemed to be slightly older than her father.

"Eleanor," said Reznov through Subject Zeta's mind, "I am Reznov, your father's friend. For some reason, we seemed to be sharing the same mind and body of your father."

"Who...who are you? I don't get it, are you the left over of the person who my father used to be?"

Reznov laughed, "Of course not, dear child, do I even sound like your father?"

"No."

"Then that's clear, we are two seperate persons. However, we are sharing the same body, while your father has the control overall, but I can give him suggestions."

Eleanor hesitated, she don't know weither to trust this new character, who is part of her father, "Well, I'm still not quite sure about your purpose here sir. Did you kill comrade Dragovich?"

"Yes, I did, its not your father's fault at all."

"Why do you do that?" Eleanor stood up, "You knew perfectly that its going to get my father in trouble."

Reznov sighed, while Zeta giggled silently beside him, "Haha, you have to deal with my daughter now, just telling you, its gonna take quite a while to talk her through."

Reznov rubbed the helmet, trying to find a clear explanation.

"As I've said before, your father is really the man in charge," he said, "I asked for his permission for revenge."

Eleanor looked curiously into the visor that behind it was both her father and another person, "Revenge for what?"

"I can't remember." claimed Reznov, "I am not real, I'm only a person your father met in past, fine, I'm his imaginary."

"You know what." Eleanor walked closer to visor allowing Reznov to take a closer look at her ocean blue eyes, "I should have beat you up till you are covered in blood, if you are not a part of my father."

"Eleanor," interrupted her father, as his low pitched voice joined their mental conversation, "I have to say that, in fact, Reznov is the reason why I adopted you back in the Gulag. He light the spark of kindness within me."

Eleanor tried to speak but decided not to at this moment.

"See?" Reznov sensed his advantage, "Even your old man's on my side."

"I'm not old." argued Zeta.

"Fine Mr Reznov," Eleanor finally found her words, "if you are here to help my father, then prove to me that you are a friend. If you dare to mess with my father, I'll sure find a way to wipe you out."

"Are you sure, my dear child?"

"Pretty sure," Eleanor went over and picked up her note book, "I've read all the latest brain surgery research data, and I've even tried to fix a dog's damaged brain in Dr Steiner's lab."

"I'm not dog." announced her father.

"I mean if Reznov tries to take over your control." clarified Eleanor, who started to solve math equations on her note book.

"Kid, don't be so mean to me, given the fact that I'm way older than you. Respect elderly, you know."

Eleanor eyed them dangerously, "Not to you father. Ah, this is so annoying now."

Both Zeta and Reznov let a laugh which was presented as a chain of short grunts.

1st July 1955,

It was already late in the afternoon in the little town of central California, the sun was falling in the west, its colour turned into a beautiful orange which brightened the darkening ground smoothly. In the little town, all the farmers and markets were ready to departure or to be closed after another long and normal day. As the orange light fall upon the air, all the dust and sand of the Californian desert could be seen, they were like tiny smoke flakes traveling in the air.

Down across the street, turn left and left again, you can find the little clinic of Dr Nicolas Armstrong, a British doctor who migrated here years ago. A sharp white light beamed through the dusty clinic window.

George sat motionlessly in the waiting room, he had not spoken nor moved an inch after presenting Candy to the doctor.

With a row of soft footsteps, someone appeared behind the counter.

George looked up, expecting to see Candy or the doctor. However, it was a young nurse, her white dress was well washed and ironed. George had never seen her before, since he could recall everybody in the town. The girl had long golden hair and a strange, but comforting green eyes she looked and George and smiled warmly, "So you must be Mr Milton, am I correct?"

"Yes you are." George smiled back, "ya're new to the town?"

The girl gave a light giggle, "Just arrived this morning."

"Ya don't look like an American or feel like one. Say kid, where ya from?"

The girl blushed a little at his statement, "Yes sir, I'm from Britain."

"Ha," George raised an eyebrow, "guessed that one right. Where in England ya from?"

"I used to live in Brumley. I'm tired with all those long hard days in the factory, our wage never raised a penny and we were forced to work extra hours. I was fired, however, I was able to find a job in a public hospital where I learnt about nursing,"

the girl said with sadness in her singing like voice.

"Ya've being through quite a'lot," George folded his arms in front of his chest, "by the way, what's your name, young lady?"

"My name is Eva Smith, you can just call me Eva."

"I'm George Milton, George is enough for a man like me. It's nice to met you Eva."

Eva blushed a little more, her cheeks turning into a bright reddish colour.

The door behind her opened, old Candy walked out with the doctor behind him.

"Nice of you waiting here Mr Milton, " the doctor addressed George, "your old friend's getting much better, I'd given him some new drugs such as this one:" he took out a small paper box with two bold letters 'Magic Bullets'.

"The hell is this?" asked George.

"The Salvarsan 606 developed Paul Ehrlich," said Eva, she took a list from the doctor and filled medicine into the paper bag, "the world's first cure for disease."

Candy noticed the presence of the new nurse, "Hello there, are you new."

"She's my new assistant from England," said the doctor as George paid him the fees, "Good night to you Mr Milton."

"You too doctor. Thank you."

"Thanks doc!" Candy waved as he left the clinic as George helped him out of the clinic.

The two walked silently in the darkness, there were only a few functioning street lamps that produced dim yellow light that barely helped the two to find their way through the darkness. Finally, they arrived at George's car, a really old Ford Model T.

"George," asked Candy.

"Yeah?"

"Why are you so quiet today?"

"Why do you say that?" George tensed up as Candy laughed wickedly.

"Right, I agree she's attractive," laughed Candy, the old man smirked like a child, "No George, stop denying it, I could tell that the moment when I walked out and saw ya guys looking at each other in _that_ way."

"Oh Candy," George couldn't say anything else apart from agreeing with Candy, "when do you need to come back and get rechecked?"

Candy laughed even louder, "Ya're madly into her now, ya can't even wait for another day to see her again. Fine, he tol' me to see him again a week later."

"A week," muttered George, "That's way too long."

10th July 1955,

Subject Omega stared at broken ceiling as she laid relaxedly on her new bed, where her father brought her from a trip to Moscow to meet with Khrushchev, the new leader of the party. It was a much larger and softer bed, consisting of springs within to give it a more bouncy feeling.

Eleanor remembered jumping on top of it the moment when her father leave the room with her old bunk, and then her head slammed hard against the metal ceiling, but due to her unusual bone contents, she actually dent the metal plate instead of breaking her skull. However, it still left a nice mark on her head to remind her of this lesson.

"That was fun," she thought, "even it gave me a pain in the head, but it still made me happy."

She picked up her rat skinned teddy from underneath the bed and held it up to her face. Zeta had asked her if she wanted to replace it with something more 'normal', but the girl refused, she was just too used to her first gift from her father.

"If one day," she spoke to the teddy, "father and everyone are all gone, can you promise to stay with me, to support me through the troubles, to be my online friend to talk to?"

"I promise Elly," Eleanor replied herself, as she shook the teddy gently, "I'll always remind you to be who you are, who your father wanted you to be."

Eleanor gave a relieved sigh and hugged the teddy tightly to her chest.

Subject Zeta, or Subtonic stood like a statue inside Dr Steiner's lab, he felt his nerves(even though mutated) tensed up after he realised that it was only him and the scientist who were present in the room.

Dr Steiner turned around in his chair, "Subject Zubtonic, greetings." with a quick move of the hand, he pressed a button on the table. In a blink of an eye, all the electronics shut off instantly. Even the security cameras and recorders.

Steiner lighted a **Bunsen's burner** with a match, "I like to talk to a man in his eyes, vell, his visor apparently," he gave a short laugh at his own joke.

Subject Subtonic groan uncomfortably, he had no idea where this conversation is heading to.

Dr Steiner watched him with his usual shark grin on his half metallic face, "I know you muzt be veeling unsure right now, Herr Zubtonic." He reached down under his desk and pulled out an object. By the dim light from the Bunsen's burner, Subtonic could see the glass barrel of the object.

It was the syringe.

He shivered a little, it looked familiar, the exact same one indeed, the one used by his daughter to inject him with his past memories. How did Steiner get it? Did he tortured his daughter forcing her to gave him want he wanted? A rising anger caused the visor on Subtonic's helmet to turn into a deadly red. However, Dr Steiner seemed not to care at all, as he casually played the syringe in his boney hands.

"Grrrrggghhhh!" Subtonic tried to say, "What did you do to her?!"

Dr Steiner stopped and smiled at him, "Subject Zeta I know you are the one in charge."

Zeta's rage was melted by his fear, like a chunk of butter on a hot pan.

Dr Steiner rested the syringe on his table, and observed his project like an artist, "Zeta, do you really think that your daughter can smuggle your memories around the most guarded and watched facility in the entire Russia, and, where do you think she gets her knowledge for saving you from?"

Zeta groaned miserably, he had questioned himself about this, but he didn't manage to develop those thoughts. At the same time, his creator landed a huge pile of paper works on his desk, "Your daughter is a very impressive young lady, this is the amount of work and study she did with me within three months, look here, nuclear fusion physics, fluid dynamics, brain dissection, bone surgery, rocket engineering and even the latest quantum mechanics. I never had a student as keen and intelligent as her, one day, I'm sure she'll overpass my intelligence and every human being. She'll be holy lamb to save this world."

Zeta couldn't say anything, but he do agree on the fact that his daughter was much more smarter than himself.

"So," continued Steiner, "Zubject Zeta, you get to learn more about your daughter, should we now carri on the talk about your future?"

Zeta made a nod with his helmet.

"Do you hate me?" asked the scientist suddenly, "I know vhat you are thinking, you thought that I'm trying steal your memories, trying to make you less human."

There was a long silence, the only sound being the **combustion** of the Bunsen's burner.

All these new facts were too dramatic for Zeta to stand, even he was in the most protective suit ever made, within the thick armour, there was still the brain of a human, the only bit that could define him from a machine.

"Do you think," Dr Steiner carried on his question steadily, " that Eleanor waz lucky enough to be randomly taught how to extract your memoriez, and there waz zhis syringe for her to steal on my table. Am Ich a person carelez enough to commit theze miztakez?"

Zeta lowered his helmet, and groaned.

Dr Steiner sat back in his chair, "Very Goot, you zeemed vhat I'm saying. It vaz not me who vanted your memories to be viped, it vas ze Russians. I had left a hint to Eleanor so she could save you vithout otherz noticeing."

Steiner pressed the button on his table again, "Ve'll talk about thiz again, soon, but not now, Eleanor's waiting fur you."

All the electronics in the room revived in an instant as the current flowed through their circuit, providing them with electrical power.

"Oh, the power's now back on," laughed Dr Steiner, "Meet me here tomorrow again Subject Subtonic."

Zeta pushed open the heavy door, the room was empty, he fearfully looked around, trying to find his little one. Without warning, Eleanor landed on his metal shoulder and sat there.

Zeta made an annoyed grunt, "You scared me Eleanor! Where were you hiding?"

"Not telling ya," Eleanor hopped onto her bed, "So you've met Dr Steiner?"

There was a short pause.

"Yeah..."

"What did he say to you?"

Zeta moved closer to Eleanor and sad down heavily beside her.

"Don't break the bed, Daddy, you are a bit...too heavy for the springs." giggled Eleanor.

"He told you to save my memory?" Zeta asked gravely.

"Well, " Eleanor looked down at the ground, "I don't really know that he was actually giving me hints until he asked me for the syringe."

The two sat in complete silence together, the golem of Russia and his daughter.

"Hey comrades!" the voice of Reznov awakened the two from their thoughts.

"Before I say anything," said Reznov, "I want to know what you are thinking about this."

Eleanor glanced at Reznov and her father, "I really don't know, I think Dr Steiner is not with the party, he still had his own believes."

"You mean planning on something?" interrupted Zeta.

"Well, depends on how you say it," Eleanor replied, "I think he really needs us for his plan."

"Eleanor, " Reznov started, "I think you are more important to him at the moment."

"Why?"

"When he was talking to us, he mentioned that he was really impressed with you and claimed that you'll be some sorts of saviour in the future for the world."

"Really?"

" I agree with Reznov, " Zeta joined.

"We are at the bottom of the food chain here, Steiner is at the top, and since he had not yet shown any aggressions or any expose of his plans, it is better for us to keep our heads down and observe his intrusions." Reznov summarised his plan.

"Sure." agreed Eleanor, "how about you father?"

"I agree as well."

"Thank you guys. I guess I'll leave now." Reznov disappeared into Zeta's mind.

The two were left in silence once again.

"By the way father," Eleanor put a hand into her pocket, "I forget to give you this back." She pulled out a little piece of photographic film, "I took it from you during your mind wash, I feared Dr Steiner will notice it."

Zeta took the film from his daughter and stared at it through his visor, this is the first time ever for him to look at this photograph in detail.

Elizabeth, who seemed to be slightly younger, was standing in the centre of the photograph, behind he, stood a man. Zeta looked closer at the clean shaved man, his facial details were defined and proportional, indeed, as Elizabeth described, he looked as if he had been through many battles.

"That must be Mason," Eleanor said as she looked over her father's shoulder, "his quite handsome..."

Zeta gave her a questioning groan. Eleanor giggled and blushed in reply.

"I always forget you are more human than I," Zeta put the photo back into his armour's container.

"No father," disagreed Eleanor, "we are the same, we both have our minds, our dreams and hopes. We both know how to love, and take care of others. At the same time, we are both monsters under layers of steel to others."

Zeta groaned softly at his daughter's comment, he couldn't imagine his life without her.

31 July 1955,

"Dr Elizabeth, " Jason Boston walked into Elizabeth's office, "Are you still working on it?" He glanced at his watch, it was already midnight.

"Yep," Elizabeth replied shortly, "It'll be great if you can make me another cup of coffee."

Jason made a groan, "You had been working like this for the past, I don't know, weeks."

Elizabeth quickly wrote on a sticky note, "When you are working on something you love, I don't think there are any good reason for you to feel tired." She stood up and sticked the note on a board that was already covered in notes like this, forming a gigantic mind map.

"That looks quite impressive," Jason went out brought back a coffee cattle, "where's your cup."

"Right here," Elizabeth pointed at a colourful china cup. Jason went over and poured in the brown liquid, "So, Dr Elizabeth, how far have you gone into this?"

Elizabeth picked up a stack of folders from the ground, "This far, I've read all the reports on the Khan mission."

"And?"

"There had no visuals about the death Mason," Elizabeth showed the reports to Jason, "When you guys left, he was still alive."

"Dr Elizabeth, I saw him putting up explosives around the whole area." Jason argued, "and you see there, there was indeed an explosion happened soon after we left."

Elizabeth took out a spy plane image, "You are correct about this one Jason, the area was pretty badly damaged as shown on this picture."

"So, is that the conclusion?" asked Jason nervously.

Elizabeth took off her plastic rimmed glasses, " However, there were some facts that these reports never cover."

"Like what?" Jason pulled a chair closer to him and sat down.

"Eleanor, and Subject Zeta told me about his creation, he was told he was invovled in some sorts of unclear accidents which got bits of radioactive fragments stuck into his body. On the exact same year and location of Operation Khan ."

Jason looked thoughtfully down at the reports, "That really reminded me of something. I remembered the room to be covered in nuclear waste containers."

Elizabeth glanced at him as if she had just found a gold mine, "That's it! It must be the same accident that led to Subject Zeta's creation!"

"Well, I suppose you can say that," said Jason, "but the fact is that, there was only one Subject Zeta, and why do you think the Russians want to save an American life?"

"You know what?" Elizabeth took a sip of her coffee, "The Russians don't know a damn thing about this whole project, it was Steiner who was really in charge."

"Do you think Steiner will save him?" Jason asked curiously, "It'll be ironic enough since we were trying to capture him."

"As far as I know, "replied Elizabeth, "Steiner was a really loyal and extreme Nazi, he was clever enough not to commit suicide, I think he'll betray the Russians one day. So by using someone who is against communism as his project will be his most ideal option."

"So you are saying Subject Zeta was Mason Sinclair?" Jason sat up straight.

"I just suggested that," Elizabeth took another sip of her coffee, "at least we all know he is still alive and can look out for himself somewhere in Russia."

"Well, Dr Elizabeth, "interrupted Jason, "I have to disagree with you at this point, how come he has a daughter? I thought you and Mason..."

"Jason!" Elizabeth blushed at the statement, "First, we were engaged before he went onto that damn mission. Second, Eleanor was adopted by him, she is not his genetical daughter."

"Well, then I guess that makes more sense."

Elizabeth returned to her work as Jason walked over to take a look at her mind map.

"By the way, Doctor, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Since, uh, you had been working quite hard, do you wanna take a break this weekend?"

Elizabeth glanced at Jason, "what are you trying to sale, agent?"

"George told Slim to tell me to tell you that you are invited to his wedding this Saturday."

"His getting married?" that caught the woman's attention, "With who?"

"Ah" grinned Jason, "With a nurse from Britain. Slim told me she was seeking for a better life in the America, and her name is Eva Smith."

"That's sweet," smiled Elizabeth, "Fine, maybe you are correct, I should take a break. Please bring my thanks to Slim and George later."

"Sure thing, Dr Elizabeth."

Extract from Subject Omega's Diary:

1st November, 1957

I will start to record all the events that happen starting from today. I really hope one day I can show this to someone from the outside, allowing them to understand the life here in this facility. Maybe one day, people will be able to discover it from some sorts of ruins and use it as a reference.

Anyways, dear Diary(I suppose all diaries should start like this),

Today, Dr Steiner taught me about lung surgery, where we dissected a dead dog's body. Lungs were far much simpler than the brain. I firstly used a flam gun to burn off all the fur, then I sliced open the dog's chest skin with my razor blade. By the way, forgot to mention: I was given a German Shepard as my dissection subject. Okay, then Dr Steiner told me to make a sketch of the rib cage, it took me quite a while to complete the sketch. However Dr Steiner was really pleased with my art skills, he showed my work to his fellow scientists. Then I cut opened the rib cage and the lungs appeared. I actually enjoyed the rubbery feeling of the pleura membrane. Dr Steiner told me to examine all the parts in the lung, from trachea to bronchus to bronchiole and finally to alveolus. I took some alveolus and looked at them under a microscopes, these little bubbles looked quite cute, but this do not change their importance in gas exchange for respiration in the body.

I was wandering about my father after this: do his lungs still function the same way like this? Well, to be honest, I am actually interested to know how his body can cope with all those mutations.

Today, father went on another personal meeting with Dr Steiner, he said that Dr Steiner had given more clue on his plans. He told me that Dr Steiner was still belonged to "the Family" which neither him nor Reznov know what exactly that stands for.

Reznov was becoming more friendly than before, he was still quite ironic sometimes, but he is learning to shut up in the correct time. When I was about to slap him.

One of the most important thing today probably the Sputnik II with Laika the dog, the first living being to be sent into orbit. She was a samoyed dog, she had black fur on her head and white as the rest of her body. Before the launch, I played with her in the centre. I really liked the feel of her short fur. She could understand me well, I think she could enter my mind and into my thoughts. We played until Dr Steiner told me that it is time to grant her a farewell.

I watched as they led her into the shinny spherical satellite. That was my last time seeing her again.

I remember crying when the gigantic rocket launched into space, father hugged me around and told me that Laika is going to be a great step for the human race and she'll probably be back.

I think that's all for today, and I shall better get some sleep now.

(Extract Ends)

7 October 1960,

"Who do you think is going to win?" asked Jason intensively. He and Slim was siting in front of a small TV screen, however, it was one of those latest coloured screens.

"Not sure about this one buddy," answered Slim, he pointed at the screen, "Well, to be honest, I think tha' young fella's gonna win.".

The screen showed two person, both stood behind a stand and faced each other. Both men were well dressed in pitch dark suits. "Mr Kennedy," said the much senior man with a bold forehead and long nose, "Let me make this straight, I don't think you have the experience to ran this country. America needs a president, a leader, who has experience, skills and determination. I had worked in the Federal Government for years, what had you done Mr Kennedy?".

"Nixon had mentioned that for the past half an hour," said Jason angrily, "he should find some better lines to say."

"True, Jason," Slim grabbed over a chair and sat down.

The young man, who was named Kennedy, smiled at his opponent's comment, his golden hair was done nicely, indeed, he was much younger than Nixon in many ways.

"Mr Nixon," he said in a firm, energetic voice, "If you judge me by my age for my experience, then you are very wrong Mr Nixon. You had worked in the government longer than me, but that doesn't mean you are better at dealing with the future challenges than me. This country needs a change, it's the age of a new generation, and I am their representative. I am here to bring change, to change people's view on the government, I want them to love their country. By that, we'll be strong, we will strive and we'll defeat any challenges that face us."

"Ah, the kid's gonna win." laughed Jason.

As the men chatted, Elizabeth walked in with a folder of blueprints in her arms, "Hey guys, what's on?"

"Oh hi, Dr Elizabeth," both men looked up at the new comer.

"Guys, seriously," said Elizabeth, "Can you stop calling me Doctor, it made me sound so boring and old."

"Nah," Jason teased, "you are too smart for us."

Slimed laughed at Jason joke, "Dr Elizabeth, who do ya suppor' Kennedy, or that ol' guy Nixon."

"Um…" Elizabeth turned to the screen, "I'm not really into politics (even I work for government projects). However, Kennedy seemed to be more trustworthy than Nixon. Nixon just makes me felt he'll betray us one day."

"True," agreed Jason, "I'll vote for Kennedy, he seemed to a decent person for our country."

The three watched intensively as the two future president candidates carried on their debate.

Across the Atlantic, on the land of the Reds and ice. A figure sat motionlessly on the edge of the cliff. It was a cave the size of a house dug into the cliff surface of the mountain. Through its yellow glowing visor, the creature watched the falling snow outside.

Eleanor sighed in her suit, she checked her digital thermometer in her helmet, it was 233 kelvin or -40 degrees. She put her hands in leather glove onto the helmet rim and unlocked it. A sudden cold breeze brushed against her pale cheeks, but she enjoyed the feeling of the outside, the feeling of freedom from her suit.

The girl was much more mature looking than three years ago, she was taller, stronger and all her curves became clearer than before. However, the short dark hair and large yellow glowing eyes still reminded the same person from before.

Three years, it may sound short compared to length of history itself, but it was long enough for a life locked inside the secret bases, without knowing when is day or night.

She could just jump and leave right now, she could work out the ways to prevent being caught. She sighed again, her breath became a thick cloud of water vapour.

She couldn't leave her father behind.

Eleanor's sadness melted away as sound of heavy footsteps and the vibration of the ground came from behind. Her palish lips turned into a faint smile, father, he was still the best thing in her heart.

Zeta made a long groan, his daughter had been sitting there for a very long time. He put his gigantic hand on her shoulder. All these years, the warmth in her smile never changed.

"What's wrong Eleanor?"

"Nothing really," Eleanor understood the reason why her father was asking her this, "I'm just quite bored today."

Zeta groaned again, "Well, thought you have all those math problems to solve down on your bed."

"Nah," giggled his daughter, "not in the mood to do them today."

"Wanna go back?" Zeta suggested, "It's getting cold here."

Eleanor picked her helmet up and stood up, "Fine, let's go inside, but you have to make me something warm to drink in return."

"Grrraggghhh(Okay)…"

The two metallic soldiers patrolled slowly back towards the base.

Suddenly, the iron gate burst open. Groups of scientists and guards stumbled out, they all gasped for air, as the thick smoke released into the outside.

"FIRE!" they all screamed.

Zeta and Eleanor looked at each other, Eleanor quickly put on her helmet and connected her oxygen reserve tank.

"What do we do now father?" asked Eleanor who loaded her chemical projector with carbon dioxide powder.

"Why not check out Steiner's office?" Reznov interrupted, "I think I just saw him fled outside, this is your only chance to find out more."

The fire had turned the base into a hell hole, flames were like claws of the devil, trying to grab anything that's flammable. Even the steel pathways had turned into a bright red trail by the extreme temperature. When the two arrived at Dr Steiner's office, they were surprised how this room was still seemed to be untouched.

"The walls are made of pure Stalinium," muttered Eleanor, "which is a poor conductor of heat.

Mean while, Zeta asked his comrade for more advices, "We are here Reznov, where should we search?"

"Umm…" replied Reznov thoughtfully, "When you were talking to him, I noticed the brick under his chair seemed to be quite usual… it seemed to me like some kind of safe."

Indeed, the cube shaped piece of brick under Dr Steiner's chair was shinny coloured unlike the rest of darkish steel floor. Eleanor one of her foot on it and turned on the electromagnets on the bottom of her shoe, then she lift the thick metal plate with ease.

A small pile of notebooks could be seen inside the cube container. The notebooks all had leather covering, but the leather skin looked dark and discoloured. Zeta quickly flipped through the yellow pages, which were covered with tiny handwritings.

"These do not look like English." he turned to Eleanor who was reading another note book.

"They are written in German," she replied, "I can read German."

"What?!"

"I learnt that in my spear time."

"Guys, there's no time for chats," Reznov cut in, "we have to get all these out and destroy this whole place so Steiner won't find out."

"That's simple enough," said Eleanor, "Just take out all the explosives inside my father's suite and replace them with all these notes."

Subject Zeta unzipped the container on his waist, and took out packets of explosives.

The fire was finally under control in the afternoon, Zeta and his daughter rested together inside an emergency tent. Dr Steiner appeared suddenly from outside, "Vhere vere you two? I've searched fur an hour."

"Dr Steiner, father and I just went to help to extinguish the fire," replied Eleanor.

"Don't ever do that again," ordered Steiner, "I need you fur more important taskz inztead of putting out fire for the Zovietz."

The two nodded, and Steiner gave them a warning stare and left without another word.

"He seems worried," said Eleanor as she watched the figure of Steiner disappeared in the groups of scientists.

"Of course he is, all his documents are 'lost' in the fire."

Eleanor smiled, "Father, let me have a read of his notes."

1943 (Poland, Nazi Concentration Camp no.238)Notes of Steiner Von Braun

I arrived at the Camp this morning, sent by our great leader to conduct the experiment that'll change the world forever. The Camp was relatively quite small compared to the other camps I worked in before. However, it was more armoured and protected than any other camps.

I was greeted by General Hans Guderian. We then discussed the arrangement of experiments.

I was shown with the specimens in the afternoon, there were around a hundred usable specimens. I was quite positive about the experiment after examine each specimen, they were all healthy enough. Hans allowed me to make a little speech before the start of the experiments. I told them that they are all less superior than the real Germanic population, and soon, one day, the world will be conquered by our great fatherland. I told them their only chance to become superior is through these experiments.

—

I had put in high expectations on specimen number 67, who was a Polish-German mix. I gave him 5 injection platinum solution so far, and his rate of mutation were still well under my control, and he seemed to enjoy his new beastly strength. The mass of his muscle had doubled within 2 weeks.

—

Today was a little disappointing, 3 more specimen had failed, and I had lost twenty so far. Some of them are due to organ failure, others are due to cancer.

—

This morning when I went to check on number 67. I was depressed by what I saw. It seemed that the mutation of the specimen's skin can't coupe with its rapid muscle and bone growth. The left over of number 67 was soon cleaned away.

—-

Only 50 specimens left, a few of them had gone insane. Is it really not possible to turn anything superior than their present state?

—

Today, Hans told me that more specimens had arrived, this time from Russia. I looked forward to meet my new specimens. There were quite a few strong looking specimens. However, my attention fell upon a female specimen. She was pregnant. Her child was still in the state of a foetus, which was quite exciting and full of potential. I have never tried to cause the mutation of not-yet-born children. I ordered her to be send straight to special testing centre. I wasn't prepared for such experiment today, it'll take some time for me to prepare all the appropriate tools.

—

Today's the grand day, all my tools and equipments were ready. The women named Katherine, begged me not to conduct the experiment. I calmed her by telling her that I know what I'm doing and I'll only be doing minor injections. All was set and a long needle was injected into her uterus.

—

The child was developing within expectations. Katherine was becoming more confident with my work. Until now, no particular physical mutation had appear on the child, but no one could be sure.

—

Most other specimens had either failed or had gone insane, so I decided that it'll be better for me to focus on Katherine's case. The outline of the child had become clearer, it seemed to be normal in some ways. However, Katherine's health was going downhill, this is particularly due to some of radioactive substances leaking into her blood capillaries. I must her alive until the child is extracted from her body.

—

Finally, tomorrow will be the day to see my work with my bare eyes. I told Katherine the unfortunate news that she had an extremely high chance of not surviving the experiment. She asked me for a wish. I allowed. She wanted to name the child Eleanor. I agreed.

—

As expected, Katherine had died during the childbirth, but the child, a girl, which is quite disappointing, survived. She was taken immediately into sterilised care room.

—

It was really hard to understand the reason for our defeat in the war. The Brits and the Russians are closing in, I was contacted by Stalin. He wanted me to work for the Soviets. My only option was to go to Russia, but one day, I'll teach these barbarian a lesson and to revenge for their crime.

—

I was encountered by the Russians today, there was a fierce firefight between our men, the Russians and the British. In shorter words, the Russians reached me in the end. There were two of them, commander Dragovich and another solider named Reznov. Everything was going well until I accidentally dropped a photograph of Kathrine in front of Reznov.

All of a sudden his face changed. "What did you do to her?!" "What did you do to my wife?!" he screamed and threw a knife at me, which pierced through my lips and damaged my front tooth. Fortunately for me, Dragovich stopped him just in time before he could kill me. However, the child was lost, she was half my life's work.

—

Jim Ivan searched through the Nazi facility with great caution. British special force or Nazis could appear anywhere, so he gripped his rifle tightly and moved stealthily through the corridors. He could hear his own heartbeat as he scout in the darkness. Suddenly, he heard the cry of a child. Jim confused, what was the purpose for a child doing here? Turning into another room, he found a new born wrapped in towels on top of a table.

"You poor thing." he muttered to himself. Lifting the crying child carefully, he hid her inside his thick fur coat.

"Don't cry," he said softly, "I'll take care of you."

28th October, 1960

"Agent 120?"

"Yes Sir!" Jason stood straight and made a salute, "any new missions sir?"

"Indeed, President Kennedy is quite worried about the development of the Cuban communists," said the general, "Come here, please take a seat."

Jason sat down uncomfortably, "I've heard about it General Dewitt, what are the President's intentions right now?"

General Dewitt handed Jason some documents, "Okay, Jason. The President wants that bustard to be gone and done. We are permitted to use any method. However, the President had made it clear: the last thing he want is 'direct, overt' intervention by the US military to Cuba."

Jason laughed, "Why not just nuke that island and claim it was a nuclear accident? The whole world knows that we want Fidel Castro gone."

"Well, agent," said General Dewitt, "we must also consider that the Soviets would likely see this as an act of war and might retaliate."

Jason silenced, he watched as the general pulled out more papers from underneath.

"President Eisenhower had authorised us to recruit 1,400 Cuban exiles living in Miami and begin training them to overthrow Castro back in 1959. We are planning to assist these guys to light the anti-Castro spark in Cuba."

"Then what's my job general?"

"Your job, Agent 120, is to assist them attack the beaches and harvest important documents or information, and to guide our battleship fire support."

"That's it? Where are we planning to land?"

"Yes, we are planning to drop you at Pay of Pigs, I promise you'll be promoted after this mission Agent 120."

"Sure thanks, anyways, hope the beach/water there will be nice and warm." Jason said, earning a laugh from the general, "You beach dog, now go and do your normal duties."

"They are sending you to Cuba?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yea, I really enjoy the weather there to be honest." Jason took a sip of his beer. He looked at Slim who sat opposite him with his arms folded.

"Can I come as well?" asked Slim.

"Why? Well I want you to come with me but I'm not the one deciding who's going." Jason passed the documents on the mission to Slim.

"Are you sure ya wanna go? I can help you ask those guys in charge," said Jason.

"Yeah, that'll be great. I'm gettin' bored with the life in this camp." replied Slim.

"Slim," interrupted Elizabeth, "If you are going, remember one thing."

"What thing?"

"Stick to Jason, no matter what!" ordered Elizabeth, "You have a really high chance of facing some opponents that you'll never be able to defeat."

Slim was interested, "Like what?"

"Remember I told you about that mutant solider?" asked Jason, "Dr Elizabeth means them."

Slim scratched his brown hair, "Well then, what should I do if I actually encounter them?"

Elizabeth took out a cigar and light it, "That's why you should always stay with Jason. They knew each other from last time."

"Okay, I think I have to go visit George in the hospital now, he said it was something to do with Eva."

Elizabeth and Jason watched as Slim exited the scene. Elizabeth took a puff of smoke, "So Jason,"

"Yes Doctor?"

"I want you to do me a favour," suggested Elizabeth, she dumped her unfinished cigar in the cigarette holder.

Jason made a salute, "Your favour is my order, Doctor Elizabeth."

"Okay," continued Dr Elizabeth, "I want you, if you ever encounter either Eleanor or her father, please hand this to them." She handed Jason an envelope, "Keep it well, it's going to be a great help for them."

Jason took the envelope carefully and slid it into his pocket, "I'll do whatever to help Mason, he had saved my life."

1 November 1960

"Zubject Zeta," said Dr Steiner, "I've notized that Zubject Omega iz in a really bad mood lately, can you give me an explanation?"

Zeta thanked his 'ability' to not be able to speak, he made some random gestures with his hands. Somehow, Dr Steiner seemed to work out his own explanation through the gestures of nonsense, "I see, she had lozt her memories and import items in the fire. Vell go tell her zhat I've lozt my life's work and notez az vell."

Subject Zeta nodded, he knew perfectly about the notes. Every second with the Nazi scientist made his muscles contract more and more, literally, he could just kill him with one single punch. That'll break his skull, Zeta could imagine Steiner laying in a pool of blood, but it's not time yet, he had promised Eleanor that he'll stay with her as long as possible.

"Right," started Steiner, "Maybe ve hav to take her to zomevhere varm."

"Grrhh?"

Steiner sighed, "I just received the latest order from the highest command that you and Eleanor vill be sent to Cuba on a mission to insure Castro."

Cuba? Thought Zeta, where on the earth is that? He patted his helmet in response.

"She'll know where it is," Dr Steiner disappeared into the emergency camp.

Eleanor laid motionlessly on her bed, she hadn't change this position for quite some time. This was the time when she finally understands the sharpness of truth. She had never believed in anything else aside from truth. She lived in truth, she learnt truth, she desired for truth. What was the point of something existing when it is a lie, or it never existed? Now, she understood their purpose.

Truth could be terrifying, it was a blade that cut could cut deeply into one's soul, leaving them miserable and broken. It could be something beyond all the weapons ever created. Stories and fantasies were here to protect us from the ugly truth, she was glad to notice their purpose finally, but, they were all gone by now. She was left alone, she had to face it by herself. Maybe father could help her, but he was also trapped in lies. Who was her father? The real Reznov was long dead, but who was the Reznov within her present father? There were too many questions, and she was not keen to find out the truth behind them, she was afraid to reveal the daggers underneath the unknown.

Heavy footsteps interrupted her thoughts.

"Eleanor?"

Eleanor rolled to face the metal golem, "Yes father?"

Subject Zeta gave a long, heavy sigh through his helmet, "I know what you are experiencing right now Eleanor, but I don't have the ability to change your mind, or anyway to comfort you."

"It's alright father, you had done everything you could," Eleanor gave him a faint smile, "I'll recover father, don't worry about me."

Zeta sat down heavily on his titanium chair, "I'm feeling as miserable as you Eleanor, in other words, I don't even know who I am or what I am, Dr Elizabeth had showed a glimpse of reality, but not truth itself,"

Eleanor nodded.

"but I know truth can be dangerous," continued Zeta, " however, I'm prepared to face it, I had already experienced enough pain."

"Father…"

Zeta put his enormous gloved hand softly on Eleanor's shoulder, "let's talk about that for another time."

Eleanor turned back to face the wall.

"Hey, I'm telling you some news," announced Zeta, "we are going to Cuba!"

"Cuba?!" Eleanor bounced up, "Why are we going there father?"

"I don't know, " Zeta shrugged, "Steiner told me that the high command need us to help a guy named Castro with his new communist state."

"That's interesting, I have never been on an island before."

Zeta gave a row of short grunts, "Elly, since you know so much about geography, why don't you share some of your knowledge about Cuba with me?"

"Sure daddy," Eleanor finally gave the warm smile that had faded for a long time.

15 April 1961

"This is squadron Shak, we are 5 minutes away from the target." A group of 'Cuban' propeller bombers flew stealthily atop the clouds.

"This Team Big," Jason shouted over the radio, due to the endless noise made by the landing craft's engines, "please attack anytime, we don't want to be bombard by planes."

"Airstrike on the way, sure you wanted."

The leading B-26 took a sudden dive, the three in behind soon followed.

"Attitude 7000 meters, speed 400 km 17 kilometres from target."

"Enemy airbase spotted, opening bombing bay."

The short airfield came into view, the planes pulled up a bit, preparing for a bombing run.

"Drop 500 pound high explosive charge."

"Pulling up for second run."

The dark shaped bombs disappeared towards the ground.

"Bom."

A row of explosions cut across the airfield, turning it into a land of fire.

"50 seconds from next run."

Jason observed the raising smoke from the island through his binoculars, "Nice, the air force had surly kicked their ass."

He turned to Slim who was smoking casually behind him, "ready up!"

The landing crafts rammed hard onto the beach, penetrating deep into the sand. The soldiers instantly hopped off and fired at the defending force.

Jason and Slim quickly located themselves behind a giant rock on the shore, they waited as the fire fight tensed up.

The Cuban exiles quickly set up a few simple artillery pieces on the shore. Meanwhile the defending Cuban force retreated a little into the jungle from the heavy firing.

"We are doing well," said Jason over the radio, he popped out and fired a few shots with his rifle and rolled back, "the beach is ours now…"

"Jason?!"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know what is that?" Slim pointed at something, Jason moved carefully to the edge of the rock to take a look. The red glowing visor, the reflection of metals, the slender figure, he knew perfectly who that was.

Eleanor quickly finished off the enemy with her syringe blade, she speeded across the exile's formation, with a simple wave of her weapon, a person would be split like a jigsaw. She looked down at her blade, still clean as usual, she had enough time to cut through a man without staining her blade.

Those fools who tried to fire at her, would soon learn the fact that they were just ants, ready to be crashed. It was a relief for Eleanor, she didn't enjoy killing, but she could express her violence at its full scale. However, her pressure release would soon be over, as the exiles finally noticed how weak they were and started to drop their weapons

"Slim?"

Jason dragged Slim by the shoulder, who remained jaw-dropped and horrified.

"eh…what?" Slim replied blankly.

Jason slapped Slim back to conscious, "the mission is over, we are leaving this place!"

Slim's legs felt like jelly, but he still forced himself up, "I thought you know her."

Jason towed Slim behind him, "She seemed to be different today."

However, they were stopped by the familiar figure.

Subject Zeta patrolled out of the sea, water dripping down his shinny metallic armour.

He looked down at the Americans, he knew the one on the right, but he couldn't work out the identity of the other.

The three stared at each other for some time, until Subject Zeta finally made a long groan. Slim shook with fear, but Jason held him tightly by the arm.

"dude…we are done for…" Slim glanced at the heavy machine gun on Zeta's arm.

"Shut up for now…" Jason ordered, but at the same time, he could feel sweat pouring down the back of his neck. Do the tin man still know him? Is he the same tin man?

"Hi Americans," Eleanor, who had her helmet off appeared from behind, "long time no see."

"Yeah," said Jason, feeling slightly more comfortable, "this is Slim, my friend." He shook Slim a bit.

Zeta groaned, and walked towards them.

"My father wants to know if Dr Elizabeth has any information for him," said Eleanor.

The giant tin man stopped right in front of them, waiting for their response.

Jason quickly searched through his pockets and took out the crumbled piece of letter and handed to Subject Zeta.

Zeta made a thankful groan, he nodded at them, then moved out, revealing a landing craft behind him.

With doubt, the two Americans hurried onto the boat.

"By the way," said Jason, "Dr Elizabeth want me to ask if you want to come with us to America."

Eleanor laughed, "maybe next time, we still have a mission. Father give them the documents."

Zeta handed a heavy ammo case to Jason, and pushed the landing craft off the shore.

"Thank you!" Shouted Jason, Eleanor and Zeta replied with waves.

20 April 1961

"Even the mission was proved to have failed, you guys seemed to have extracted some important documents."

Jason and Slim sat motionlessly across the grey table.

"Any more comments?"

They both shook their heads.

"Now you may leave."

Jason entered Elizabeth's office silently, "I've tried, but they refused to come with me."

"It's alright," sniffed Elizabeth who looked up with her tearful eyes, in her hand, she held a copy of the document, "we can't change their decision."

Jason sighed and sat down, "For a moment, I could feel the person under those heavy armour. I could sense his struggle to make a connection with his past."

"How about Eleanor?" asked Elizabeth.

"She seemed to be a bit changed since last time I saw her, she was slightly more cold blooded, like the way she fought, that girl basically teared her enemies to bits."

"I can understand that," replied Elizabeth.

"?"

"Jason," continued Elizabeth patiently, "you really should take a look at these documents, you'll know all about how someone transformed an innocent girl into one of the most deadly cyborg since her birth. She was taught to destroy her enemies, after knowing the truth about herself, the only way she could be saved is to bring her here to us, so we can show her the good side of the world."


End file.
